University of Queensland apologises to students after withdrawing scholarships offered on Christmas Eve

The University of Queensland said the scholarships were mistakenly awarded due to a human error.

ABC News: Giulio Saggin, file photo

The University of Queensland has apologised to 400 students who were offered scholarships on Christmas Eve only to have the offers withdrawn in the new year.

Deputy vice-chancellor Professor Joanne Wright says the offers were inadvertently made through an administrative error.

"The university has 100 scholarships, and they were awarded according to the criteria set out in the scheme," she told PM.

"Unfortunately what happened was that everyone in the Link Access Scheme got an email telling them that they had a scholarship, but in actual fact they didn't, because there was only 100 scholarships to be awarded.

"We are very, very sorry that it happened. It shouldn't have happened and we apologise unreservedly. It was a little bit like hitting the reply-to-all button when you mean to just hit the reply button."

"It was like a Christmas present to our whole family, and we were so excited. We were doing happy dances," she said.

"[On] Christmas Day we were toasting to it at lunchtime ... all of a sudden it's just gone. It just seems very unfair."

Ms Bromilow says Ms Howard, who applied for the scholarship in order to fulfil her dream of becoming a veterinary technician, is reassessing whether she can afford to go to university.

"After that phone call she was gutted, and it just broke our hearts. She was just so upset," she said.

"She's actually not sure if financially she can do it. She may not financially be able to go."

Professor Wright says the students on the Link Access program will still receive a $500 start-up bursary and have five bonus ranks applied to any preferences.

Call for university to reassess cases individually

St James Ethics Centre executive director Dr Simon Longstaff says the university should assess each case individually to see if compensation should be granted.

"If the distress that has been caused is the sum total of what has happened, then it's terrible for those people whose hopes have been raised and then dashed," he told PM.

"The best that can really be done is to offer a sincere apology and to try and improve the conditions for the future.

"But I'd say if those people have had more than just emotional stress, [if] they've made decisions or incurred costs as a result of what was an inadvertent error, then the university has some obligation, actually, to make good for that cost, even if it never intended to cause it."

Ms Bromilow says the university should honour the offer it made her niece.

"As a business operator, if you make an offer to someone or award them something in writing you have to honour it," she said.

"You can't then turn around then say 'Oh look, I'm really sorry. I made a mistake, you're not getting it.' It can't be morally right.

"I would like to see UQ give her back what they gave her. Whether or not that's going to happen, I don't know, but I think morally they need to step up and do that."